» Violent jihadis had planned Islamic state in Scotland for oppressed community members

Violent jihadis had planned Islamic state in Scotland for oppressed community members

Published: Thursday, June 12, 2008, 18:30 [IST]

Subscribe to Oneindia News

London, June 12 : Plans to set up a secret Islamist state in Scotland were discussed by two supporters of jihad, a court has heard. The pair said it could provide a safe haven for those who felt "oppressed", London's Blackfriars Crown Court heard.

Two Muslim supporters of "violent jihad" discussed the setting up a secret Islamic state in a remote part of Scotland.

The jurors were told that it would provide a safe haven for those who felt "oppressed" and would be away from the prying eyes of the authorities.

Scotsman.com reported that the community would be run according to Sharia law and eventually be used as a base to "discreetly train" for attacks against non-believers.

The Court heard the online exchange, which was part of a "mass" of allegedly incriminating material found by police in Bradford and London two years ago.

Aabid Khan, 23, of Bradford, West Yorkshire, was the first to be arrested and was detained by police at Manchester Airport on his return from Pakistan.

His "close friend" and the man he was talking to about the secret Muslim state was Sultan Muhammad, also 23, from Bradford.

Also in the dock is Ahmed Sulieman, 30, from Woolwich, southeast London, whom Muhammad allegedly hoped could provide him with a hiding place, and Hammaad Munshi, now 18 but then a 16-year-old from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.

They variously deny 13 counts alleging possession of articles for a purpose connected with terrorism and making a record of information likely to be useful in terrorism between November 23, 2005, and June 20 the following year.

Muhammad's departure was so hasty that he left behind a bedroom full of alleged evidence. Apart from some "dummy ammunition" for an AK47 assault rifle, there was a library of DVDs and CDs packed with jihadi propaganda, said Simon Denison, prosecuting while addressing the court on the third day in his opening statement.

Also recovered was an SAS handbook, maps of the London Underground, Jerusalem and Manhattan, a book entitled Suicide Bombings, an encryption code, photographs of a smiling Osama bin Laden, "extremely graphic" footage of the beheadings of American hostages in Iraq, and instructions on how to make arms and explosives.